A blog launched on the 41st anniversary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the first pro-life organisation in the world, established on 11 January 1967. SPUC has been a leader in the educational and political battle against abortion, human embryo experimentation and euthanasia since then. I write this blog in my role as SPUC's chief executive, commenting on pro-life news, reflecting on pro-life issues and promoting SPUC's work.

When the icon of the Black Madonna arrives at Westminster Cathedral next Monday, 5th November, at 5 p.m. there will be Mass in the Cathedral in memoriam for all unborn babies and for healing of those affected by abortion, celebrated by Bishop Alan Hopes, auxiliary bishop of Westminster.

Prior to the Mass, SPUC has organized a pro-life event in The Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace, SW1, from 3 p.m. to 5 pm which will feature addresses from SPUC, Good Counsel Network and Helpers of God's Precious Infants. The event will consist of refreshments and stalls, presentations and prayer. The Hinsley Room is situated close to Westminster Cathedral, in Morpeth Terrace between two school playgrounds.

SPUC will also be holding an event at St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham, on Friday, 9th November. An SPUC speaker will give a brief address at the Welcome Liturgy, which starts at 4.30pm. From 6.00pm onwards SPUC and Helpers of God’s Precious Infants will have stalls and speakers in the Grimshaw Room at the cathedral.

Ewa Kowaleska, European co-ordinator of the pilgrimage, and director of Human Life International, Poland, has said:

"The Icon travelled over 30 thousand kilometers in 137 days and has been met by nearly 2,000,000 people. Large crowds of people – Orthodox, as well as Catholics – have been greeting Our Lady on Her scheduled route, giving their unwavering witness of faith and their active involvement in the defense of life.

"Since June 15, when this historic and unprecedented pilgrimage began in Vladivostok, the following countries have already welcomed Our Lady's Icon on Her journey:
Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland and Germany. This autumn, the Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa will be visiting the following countries: Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, France, and Spain. Our Lady will arrive in Fatima, Portugal just in time for Christmas."

Whether or not you can get along to one of the many events in Britain, those wishing to be associated with the pilgrimage can join in the following daily prayer - an Act of Entrustment of the Protection of the Civilisation of Life and Love Into the Hands of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, which represents the heart and purpose of this historic spritual project:

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Chaste Mother of God, Immaculate Virgin.
Into your hands we entrust the great cause of protecting the civilization of life and love.
We live in a difficult time of a massive global attack by the civilization of death.
Very many innocent people are perishing - unborn children, the aged and the sick.
The number of victims already exceeds two billion human beings.
Each day an additional 50 thousand children die in their mother’s womb.
Many people do not want to have any children at all.
Means of destroying fertility and life are becoming more and more common.

Infertility of married couples is increasing.
The human child is becoming a product of modern technology, a donor of cells and organs.
Children “are produced” with designated attributes, subject to selection.
Hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos are preserved between life and death in liquid nitrogen.

International man made law denies legal protection to the life of the unborn child.
More and more countries are legalizing euthanasia.
The attack on marriage and the family is increasing.

O Holy Mother, we promise you that we will defend human life,especially the small and defenseless, with all our strength.

We stand before you, Mother of Our Redeemer,
fully aware that alone we are unable to win that global struggle.
Stand at the forefront of the defense of life movements and lead us.
Protect life! Save the family! Strengthen us!
Obtain from your son the victory of the civilization of life and love!

"The Black Madonna is not an icon, exclusively, of either the Catholics or the Orthodox. It antedates the great schism. It's our common patronage.

"The pilgrimage of the Black Madonna has for the first time in 1000 years caused Orthodox an Catholics to unite in defence of their families - which have never been under such threat from politicians in Britain and throughout the world promoting abortion, same-sex marriage and the destruction of parents as the primary educators of their children.

"In the Ocean to Ocean pilgrimage Orthodox and Catholic families are entrusting to the Mother of God the replacement of today's culture of death with a new civilisation of love and life based on the timeless values of marriage and the family. This is nothing less than a cultural revolution based on the teachings of Christ."

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

On 1 October, Anthony McCarthy, SPUC's education and publications manager, debated at University College Cork Philosophical Society on the subject of same-sex marriage. Also opposing same-sex marriage was Brendan O'Neill, editor of Spiked Online. Speaking in favour of same-sex marriage were Katherine Zappone, a lesbian senator from Canada, and Max Krzyzanowski, an Irish gay rights activist. Do read the whole of Anthony's fascinating report of the debate on the SPUC website. Here are some key quotations from Anthony's arguments:

"The attempt to make natural institutions [e.g. marriage] conform to personal desires [e.g. homosexuality] is always a grave error."

"[There is ] no middle ground when it came to competing notions of sex and the family."

"[T]he evidence does not support the claims of gay parenting promoters. Underlying all the propaganda and citation of methodologically worthless papers is, in fact, a deep rejection of the biological family. Sometimes this will take the form of supporting, not gay adoption, but the use of donor eggs or sperm to produce a child ... As with gay marriage, the rights of adults here are, it seems, what ultimately matters."

"[W]e are faced with a new image of the person – one where sexual differences and biological ties are robbed of all meaning, and marriage and the family lose their status as the foundational unit of society."

"[T]hose seeking to impose a new and incoherent anthropology [i.e. gay marriage] are violently intolerant of opposition to their cause."

"The gay-marriage issue is giving the state extraordinary leeway to interfere in married and family life, which have traditionally been considered no-go zones."

"[S]terile and unnatural sex is elevated and fruitfulness despised and persecuted"

"[In contrast] a vision of life that understands the difference between being a parent and being a gamete donor, and in which the love and nurture of young human lives is seen as more important than adult ‘sexual rights’."

Monday, 29 October 2012

Girls of 13 given birth control jab at school without parents’ knowledge
The Telegraph newspaper has found that school nurses have given contraceptive implants or jabs to girls aged between 13 and 16 more than 900 times in the past two years. The schoolgirls' parents were not told about the jabs unless the girls gave permission for this information to be shared. [Telegraph, 28 Oct] Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "Such implants and jabs can act as early forms of abortion. So not only are schoolgirls being introduced prematurely into the adult world of sexual activity, they are also being involved in the killing of unborn children." See SPUC's leaflet and briefing about birth control methods which can cause abortion.

At critical moments in history, even secular politicians unashamedly turn to God to pray for Divine intervention.

Famously, Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during the Second World War, organized "Divine Service" on the quarterdeck of HMS Prince of Wales for his first wartime meeting with Franklin D. Roosevelt, the US president, on 10th August 1941.

After the war, Churchill said:

"On Sunday morning, August 10, Mr. Roosevelt came aboard H.M.S. Prince of Wales and, with his Staff officers and several hundred representatives of all ranks of the United States Navy and Marines, attended Divine Service on the quarterdeck ... I chose the hymns myself – 'For Those in Peril on the Sea' and 'Onward, Christian Soldiers.' We ended with 'O God, Our Help in Ages Past,”' ... Every word seemed to stir the heart. It was a great hour to live. Nearly half those who sang were soon to die."

Today, one of Ireland's great pro-life leaders, Patrick McCrystal, is appealing for 9 days of prayer, starting today, for the downfall in Ireland of the Children's "Rights" referendum. What's at stake for Irish families and for Irish parents is every bit as grave as what was at stake for those on board HMS Prince of Wales - as Pat McCrystal, the father of a large family, explains on the HLI Ireland website.

I particularly commend Patrick's prayer novena to my fellow Catholics for whom it is designed.

I refer visitors to my blogpost last week in which Fr Fleming described the proposed amendment to Ireland's constitution as "potentially be a disaster for Irish families."

The proposed amendment, according to Fr Fleming "represents a dramatic ideological shift in both emphasis and practice", "provid[ing] a beachhead by the state into what has traditionally been the preserve of the rights of parents in the upbringing of their children."

Fr Fleming is a foundation member of UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee, and a corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life

Whether or not you join Patrick's prayer novena, to which I strongly commend you, everyone should pray - and, if possible, work for the defeat of the amendment.

You might also look at Pat Buckley's blog for a full legal analysis of the wording and text of the referendum on children,

Saturday, 27 October 2012

Congratulations are to SPUC South Wales, in particular Wendell and Janet Thomas, for organising a well-supported campaign against the Welsh government's proposals for presumed consent for organ donation. The vast majority of submissions to the Welsh government's consultation (2,601 out of 2,891) were in response to SPUC South Wales' call for action. See Monday's press release from our colleagues at CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) for more information.

Friday, 26 October 2012

Earlier this week senior pro-life medics and experts have issued a joint statement (full text below) which raises serious objections to the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), in reply to a statement by the National End-of-Life programme. The Mail and The Telegraph have published a range of pieces recently about the LCP:

In another recent development, Archbishop Peter Smith, chairman of the relevant department of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), last week called upon the Department of Health to launch an official enquiry into the LCP. Although the Department of Health rejected his call, the Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) has announced that it will be conducting its own review. We are, however, doubtful that the review by the APM, which supports the LCP, will address adequately the disturbing claims about the LCP.

Here is the joint statement from senior pro-life medics and experts:

Commentary on the Statement supporting the Liverpool Care Pathway

21 October 2012

The Statement supporting the Liverpool Care Pathway from the National End of Life Programme was published under multiple signatories. We have a number of serious reservations and questions about the working of the Liverpool Care Pathway.

1 The statement says, “it is not always easy to tell whether someone is very close to death”.
The fact is that there is no scientific evidence to support the diagnosis of impending death and there are no published criteria that allow this diagnosis to be made in an evidence-based manner. This is even more true of non cancer conditions. This diagnosis is a prediction, which is at best an educated guess. Predictions have been shown to be often in serious error.
There is no evidence that the diagnosis of impending death can be improved by using “the most senior doctor available “, and an actual misdiagnosis of impending death could result in a wrongful death.

2 “The Liverpool Care Pathway …is not a treatment”.
This statement belies what actually happens once a patient is signed up onto the LCP. The fact that morphine, midozelam and glycopyrrolate are prescribed makes the LCP a treatment protocol.

3 “The Liverpool Care Pathway …is…a framework for good practice.”
In the twenty-first century all good clinical practice is evidence based. Good clinical practice has always traditionally involved a close doctor-patient relationship and the management of symptoms in the best interest of the patient, as and when they arise. The LCP is more than a framework. It is a pathway that takes the patient in the direction of the outcome presumed by the diagnosis of impending death. The pathway leads to a suspension of evidence based practice and the normal doctor-patient relationship.

4 “The Liverpool Care Pathway does not….hasten death.”
It is self evident that stopping fluids whilst giving narcotics and sedatives hastens death. According to the National Audit 2010-2011, fluids were continued in only 16% of patients and none had fluids started.
The median time to death on the Liverpool Care Pathway is now 29 hours. Statistics show that even patients with terminal cancer and a poor prognosis may survive months or more if not put on the Liverpool Care Pathway.

Your statement fails to mention the relief of symptoms at all. We think this is a serious omission. The question of consent is not mentioned either.

If as you say, the LCP does not replace “clinical judgement”, and is a “framework for good”, why is it not endorsed by 28% of senior healthcare professionals? (National Audit 2010-2011)

Patients should receive an individual treatment plan according to best evidence based medicine. They should not be deprived of consciousness, but receive such treatment that is aimed at relieving all their symptoms including thirst. Nothing should be done which intentionally hastens death. An individual care plan based on best evidence is preferable to a rigid pathway.

Anthony's point - that any abortions which Marie Stopes will perform in Northern Ireland will almost certainly be illegal abortions - is borne out by the admission in 2007 by Paul Cornellisson, Marie Stopes' programme director in South Africa, that Marie Stopes:

"do illegal abortions all over the world"

See the video below, produced by Precious Life, our colleagues in Northern Ireland, which shows that the strategy Mr Cornellisson proposed in 2007 is coming to pass in Northern Ireland in 2012:

In his opinion, Dr Fleming said: "It is difficult to see how the present Constitutional arrangements are not fit for purpose. The rights of the family and the child are already safeguarded". The proposed amendment, according to Dr Fleming "represents a dramatic ideological shift in both emphasis and practice", "provid[ing] a beachhead by the state into what has traditionally been the preserve of the rights of parents in the upbringing of their children."

Dr Fleming concluded that the "amendment, if passed, could potentially be a disaster for Irish families" and calls upon Ireland's Catholic bishops "to do all they can to persuade the Irish people that such a constitutional change is not in the best interests of Irish families ".

Monday, 22 October 2012

EllaOne morning-after pill trial is dangerous
A trial by The Co-operative Pharmacy chain of prescription-free sale of the EllaOne morning-after pill has been described as 'dangerous' by SPUC. EllaOne is claimed to work up to five days after sexual intercourse. The Co-operative Pharmacy is conducting the trial in 40 pharmacies. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "Our main concern is that EllaOne is dangerous for unborn children. As well as a form of contraception, EllaOne can also act as a form of abortion, by making the lining of the womb hostile to newly-conceived human embryos, thus killing them. [SPUC, 19 October]

Friday, 19 October 2012

The pro-life movement in Northern Ireland
has welcomed the news that the Justice Committee in the Province's
devolved government is to launch an investigation into the operations of
the Marie Stopes International (MSI) abortion facility which opened
amid protests in Belfast on Thursday 18 October. The arrival of MSI has
caused widespread public concern that laws protecting children before
birth will be overturned.

"Abortion is not health care and in Northern Ireland it is
a criminal offence. The Parliament of Northern Ireland rejected the
British Abortion Act in 1967 and for the last 45 years the majority of
the people and politicians have continued to oppose the liberalisation
of our abortion laws. Through the long years of direct rule from London
only the force of public opinion stopped successive British governments
from imposing the Abortion Act on the Province. The last attempt to
introduce it, in 2008 came only months before criminal justice powers
were returned to local politicians. It failed because of the pressure
brought to bear on the Prime Minister in London."

Pro-life
campaigners are calling on members of the public to lobby their elected
representatives to urge them to take all the necessary steps to ensure
that Marie Stopes is unable to maintain its abortion centre in Belfast.

Liam Gibson continued:

"Public opinion must demand action to shut this
centre down. There is too much evidence of Marie Stopes's involvement in
illegal abortions in other countries for claims that the Belfast centre
will operate inside the law to hold any credibility.

This is probably the greatest threat against the right to life of
Northern Ireland's unborn children. We need everyone to raise this issue
with their politicians, in their churches and among their families and
friends. The financial resources available to MSI are enormous; but the
pro-life people of Northern Ireland have fought long against the threat
of liberal abortion. They worked too hard for the return of accountable
democracy to see our laws and our devolved institutions swept aside by
the abortion industry. I believe Marie Stopes have underestimated the
level of opposition it faces from the people of Northern Ireland."

SPUC has described as dangerous a trial by The Co-operative Pharmacy chain of prescription-free sale of the EllaOne morning-after pill. EllaOne is claimed to work up to five days after sexual intercourse. The Co-operative Pharmacy is conducting the trial in 40 pharmacies. See The Telegraph report "'Five-day-after' pill to be sold at chemists' without prescription"

"Our main concern is that EllaOne is dangerous for unborn children. As well as a form of contraception, EllaOne can also act as a form of abortion, by making the lining of the womb hostile to newly-conceived human embryos, thus killing them. Women should be told that this is one of EllaOne's modes of action. (see note 1 below).

EllaOne and other so-called 'morning-after' pills are marketed as 'emergency' contraception, yet millions of packs have been sold in the UK alone over the past two decades. Older forms of morning-after pills have been widely available without prescription throughout the UK for 12 years now, and in that time the incidence of registered (i.e. post-implantation) abortions and of sexually-transmitted infections has continued to rise. As the work of Professor David Paton of Nottingham university has shown, increasing access to morning-after pills doesn't improve sexual health outcomes. (note 2)

Contraceptive use has a massive failure rate. Easy access to EllaOne will promote a casual attitude to sex by lulling people into a false sense of security about unplanned pregnancy. Abortion clinics are quite open about the fact that most women seeking abortion were using contraception when they fell pregnant.

We know from past experience that age restrictions won't stop under-16s from getting morning-after pills, and that many pharmacists won't ask the questions which the prescription-free protocol requires. Also, pharmacists don't have access to medical records and this places women at danger from side-effects. Some young women asking for morning-after pills will be under pressure from partners demanding sex or even wanting to hide abuse.

Society must move in the opposite direction, by reducing the level of premature sexual activity among young adults, and by defending marriage as the responsible place for sex."

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Congratulations to Life Institute who have produced a superb new video Abortion never saves a woman's life.

Life Institute says: "Please take 90 seconds to watch this powerful new video message which spells out the facts - abortion never saves a mother's life: it just kills a baby".

For more information on this theme, see Liam Gibson's blogpost Abortion is not medically necessary to the life of a woman. ... and as Life Institute's new video makes clear, the Republic of Ireland, with its constitutional ban on abortion, has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world, according to figures published by the World Health Organization in 2007.

SPUC youth and student newsletter published
SPUC has today published a youth and student newsletter. In its history, SPUC has consistently sought to support pro-life young adults and students. This has included support for pro-life societies, speakers, conferences, public acts of witness, and campaign materials. In the last few years we’ve seen a resurgence of pro-life youth societies in the UK. Our international youth conference has gone from strength to strength, making it the largest pro-life youth event in the UK. We felt that it was a good time to re-launch a straightforward, action-focused newsletter, about how we can work together for the culture of life. Please forward this newsletter to a friend. It features information about:

SPUC's 9 Million Children campaign

SPUC's pro-life speaker taster training day

SPUC's youth blog

SPUC's internship scheme

SPUC's campaign to inform people about abortion-inducing forms of birth control

SPUC's campaign to defend marriage, which protects unborn children

SPUC's universities speaker tour

SPUC's international youth conference

news of other pro-life events and resources

Abortion poster campaign move condemned as cynical by SPUC
Responding the announcement that the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of Britain's main abortion providers, is launching a national billboard poster campaign, Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "BPAS, which is a lucrative abortion enterprise, is cynically exploiting the hype over the upper-limit debate to drum up more clients. BPAS knows very well that there is no realistic prospect of new abortion limits getting past Parliament's large pro-abortion majority. Instead of pursuing the red herring of time-limits, ministers should instead cut off the tens of millions of pounds the government hands to BPAS in NHS contracts." [SPUC, 15 October]

Archbishop Michael Neary (right), the archbishop of Tuam, has made a dramatic appeal to the Irish government, to Irish politicians, and to Irish citizens to give "full protection in Irish law for the right to life of the baby in the womb".

His appeal follows a powerful statement from Cardinal Sean Brady, the primate of all Ireland, that the Church would vigorously oppose any Government proposals to legislate for abortion in Ireland.

In bold clear terms, during an interview on Vatican radio, Archbishop Neary said:

"The Irish government is under no obligation to legislate for abortion because of ... the European court. Indeed on the contrary our government is free to respond [to the European Court of Human Rights] by seeking full protection in Irish law for the right to life of the baby in the womb. And this could be done while ensuring women in pregnancy continue to receive every treatment necessary to safeguard their lives so as bishops we’re calling on our public representatives and on our people to respect the humanity and life of children in the womb and to reject abortion."

If you want to hear for yourself Archbishop Neary’s eloquent appeal in support of full constitutional protection for the right to life of unborn children and their mothers, you can listen to it now on Pat Buckley’s blog.

What he says is so timely and important and is so clear and so instructive about Irish constitutional protection for mothers that I have transcribed much of the interview below:

"The right to life .. is the most fundamental of all rights because it is the foundation of all other rights. The Catholic church teaches that the direct and intentional killing of innocent human life from conception till natural death at any stage is gravely morally wrong.

"The day for life [launched by the Irish bishops] coincides with the decisive moment for Ireland. In the coming weeks our government here in Ireland will decide how to respond to a 2010 judgement of the European Court of Human Rights ... despite what some people have asserted, the Irish government is under no obligation to legislate for abortion because of this ruling of the European court.

"Indeed on the contrary our government is free to respond by seeking full protection in Irish law for the right to life of the baby in the womb. And this could be done while ensuring women in pregnancy continue to receive every treatment necessary to safeguard their lives so as bishops we’re calling on our public representatives and on our people to respect the humanity and life of children in the womb and to reject abortion ...

" ... By virtue of their common humanity the life of both mother and her unborn baby are sacred ... Concern for the mother’s life must go hand in hand with concern for her unborn child. Anyone who claims to be pro-life must be emphatically pro-mother. That’s the kind of context in which the day for life is being celebrated this year.

"Ireland is one of the few remaining countries in the EU and indeed worldwide in which abortion is not legal. The World Health Organization recognized that Ireland without abortion remains one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant and to give birth. And this is something we should be proud of as a country but also something that we should seek to protect ... Under article 40 of our constitution 'The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its law to respect, and as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.'

"Now the clear intention of that article was to equally protect from direct attack the right to life of both the mother and her unborn child. But this intention was undermined by the decision of the Supreme court in 1992 in the X case judgement of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court interpreted that article of the Irish Constitution as permitting the direct killing of the child in the womb in certain circumstances.

"If our government chooses now to legislate in line with the Supreme Court judgement, this will mean legislating for abortion in Ireland for the first time. That's our concern and we are endeavouring to bring that concern to the people of our parishes and to our dioceses so that they will recognize that this is a decisive moment for our country.

"Genetics and technology have been able to highlight for us something of the beauty and mystery of the life in the womb. Any mother or father who has gazed in wonder at an ultrasound scan of their baby or heard his or her heart beating for the first time ... will surely know how rapid and beautiful is the development of their baby in the womb. Because of the advances in technology this is something which has been brought home to us in ways which we would probably not be aware of in a previous age. It emphasises that the baby does not suddenly become a human being at birth and they would know that their son or daughter now present before them as an infant or teenager is the same human life, the same child, they saw in that first scan.

"The child in the womb is not a potential life but rather a human life with potential, a precious and God–given potential, that all of us whether we’re parents, nurses, midwives, doctors, lawyers, politicians, citizens or voters are called on to respect and protect. We are encouraging an initiative of prayer coinciding with this. There will be a month of prayer from the 7th October, from the day for life, until 6th November which is the feast of all the Irish saints."

Archbishop Neary encouraged Vatican radio listeners worldwide to join Irish Catholics in the prayer being said in Ireland's 1360 parishes during this month of prayer for the unborn child.

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

SPUC has today published a youth and student newsletter. In its history, SPUC has consistently sought to support pro-life young adults and students. This has included support for pro-life societies, speakers, conferences, public acts of witness, and campaign materials. In the last few years we’ve seen a resurgence of pro-life youth societies in the UK. Our international youth conference has gone from strength to strength, making it the largest pro-life youth event in the UK. We felt that it was a good time to re-launch a straightforward, action-focused newsletter, about how we can work together for the culture of life. Please forward this newsletter to a friend. It features information about:

SPUC's 9 Million Children campaign

SPUC's pro-life speaker taster training day

SPUC's youth blog

SPUC's internship scheme

SPUC's campaign to inform people about abortion-inducing forms of birth control

Monday, 15 October 2012

Responding the announcement that the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of Britain's main abortion providers, is launching a national billboard poster campaign, Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, has told the media:

"BPAS, which is a lucrative abortion enterprise, is cynically exploiting the hype over the upper-limit debate to drum up more clients. BPAS knows very well that there is no realistic prospect of new abortion limits getting past Parliament's large pro-abortion majority. Instead of pursuing the red herring of time-limits, ministers should instead cut off the tens of millions of pounds the government hands to BPAS in NHS contracts."

Saturday, 13 October 2012

Liam Gibson, SPUC's development officer in Northern Ireland, recently started an excellent blog, "Pro-life Belfast". The widely-reported controversy last week over Marie Stopes setting up an abortion clinic in Belfast shows how important it is for pro-lifers to keep up-to-date with the pro-life battle in Northern Ireland. Do bookmark Liam's blog and spread the word. Below are links to a few of Liam's recent blogposts:

Friday, 12 October 2012

Related story:Viability bad guide to abortion law reform, says SPUC
SPUC has responded to the latest official statistics on infant mortality, by warning that viability is a bad guide to abortion law reform. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, said: ”Anyone who has experienced the trauma of a premature birth will warmly welcome scientific advances in saving prematurely-born babies, but the viability of unborn children should not be used as a guide for reforming the law on abortion. Viability is a criterion which varies from place to place in the country and from place to place in the world. Viability has nothing to do with the humanity of the child in the womb; it has everything to do with technological progress and the excellence and dedication of medical staff. A child's capacity to survive is not what makes him or her a human being. When a premature baby, after receiving expert treatment, sadly dies, doctors are not criticised for treating a non-person. They have tried to save a baby, but sadly failed. Passing legislation on such an arbitrary basis leads to legislatures making equally arbitrary exceptions – as the UK Parliament did in 1990, making abortion lawful up till birth for disabled babies and on certain other grounds.” [Telegraph, 11 October]SPUC condemns Belfast abortion centre plans
Claims that Marie Stopes International is to carry out abortions at a new centre in Belfast have been condemned by SPUC. It is irresponsible and crass for the abortion giant to suggest it would provide abortions at a newly-established centre. The procedure is only legal when there is a serious danger to the mother’s life. SPUC has twice taken Northern Ireland health department to court to force it to withdraw abortion guidelines, because they failed to reflect the law accurately. SPUC was proved correct in its approach to the law on both occasions. [SPUC, 11 October]

Thursday, 11 October 2012

Claims that Marie Stopes International is to carry out abortions at a
new centre in Belfast have been condemned by SPUC. It is irresponsible and crass for the abortion giant to
suggest it would provide abortions at a newly established centre. The
procedure is only legal when there is a serious danger to the mother’s
life.

SPUC has twice taken Northern Ireland health department
to court to force it to withdraw abortion guidelines, because they
failed to reflect the law accurately. The pro-life group was proved
correct in its approach to the law on both occasions.

Liam
Gibson, SPUC's development officer in the Province, told the media earlier today:

"The law here
is clear. The Northern Ireland Assembly has jurisdiction over abortion,
not Marie Stopes. And the people of Northern Ireland are not prepared to
let the abortion industry change our law by breaking it. Abortion is
not health care, it is a criminal offence. Only in extreme
circumstances, when a woman's life is in danger, can it even be
considered. Health officials and the Regulation and Quality Improvement
Authority (RQIA) should explain why they think any doctor dealing with
such a case should send a pregnant woman to a private, commercially-run
campaign group’s abortion centre rather than offering her NHS hospital
care.

Health officials and the RQIA are grossly abusing their
power by suggesting that Marie Stopes will be offering ‘legal abortions’
at this centre.

Abortionists in Britain may be
used to flouting the law by performing sex-selection abortions on baby
girls and falsifying paperwork, but the pro-life people and politicians
in Northern Ireland expect officials to ensure that the laws here
protecting the right to life of unborn children will be enforced. It is
deeply disturbing to see public officials adopting the role of promoting
illegal abortion regardless of the law, as the Department of Health has
done in England over many years."

Marie Stopes International (MSI) UK had an
income of £145 million last year, mostly in fees and grants from
government bodies (but also fees from clients) for abortion and other
“sexual health services”.

MSI began advertising abortion on
television in England in 2010, but stopped after advertising groups
received a record number of objections and SPUC pointed out that the
advertising was both grossly offensive and illegal.

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Abortion limit stories dismissed as hype by UK's main pro-life group SPUC
The UK's largest and oldest pro-life group, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) www.spuc.org.uk has dismissed recent newspaper stories about ministerial support for reducing abortion time-limits as "journalistic hype". SPUC was responding to recent stories in The Times and The Telegraph newspapers in which ministers were asked whether they support reducing time-limits for abortion. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC communications manager, commented: "These stories are in reality media-generated hype. There is no 'news' in these stories. The voting records of Jeremy Hunt, Maria Miller and Theresa May on abortion time-limits, over four years ago, are public knowledge. The Telegraph supports reducing abortion time-limits while The Times is strongly against any abortion restrictions, and between them they are generating some heat but little light on the real politics of abortion. There is some scare-mongering by pro-abortion figures, and some groundless hope for success by Nadine Dorries MP, whose amendments in 2008 were clearly defeated. There is a large pro-abortion majority in Parliament which will ensure that any time-limiting amendments are rejected while using the opportunity to push for pro-abortion amendments. The real political debate about abortion in the UK should focus - as it does elsewhere in the world - on the right to life of all unborn children and on way governments bankroll abortion access at home and abroad." > [SPUC, 6 October]

"These stories are in
reality media-generated hype. There is no 'news' in these stories. The
voting records of Jeremy Hunt, Maria Miller and Theresa May on abortion
time-limits, over four years ago, are public knowledge. The Telegraph
supports reducing abortion time-limits while The Times is strongly
against any abortion restrictions, and between them they are generating
some heat but little light on the real politics of abortion. There is
some scare-mongering by pro-abortion figures, and some groundless hope
for success by Nadine Dorries MP, whose amendments in 2008 were clearly
defeated.

There is a large pro-abortion majority in
Parliament which will ensure that any time-limiting amendments are
rejected while using the opportunity to push for pro-abortion
amendments. The real political debate about abortion in the UK should
focus - as it does elsewhere in the world - on the right to life of all
unborn children and on the way governments bankroll abortion access at
home and abroad."

Friday, 5 October 2012

Fresh perspective, not time-limit debate, needed on abortion
A fresh perspective, not a debate about time-limits, is needed on abortion, says SPUC. SPUC was responding to comments to The Telegraph newspaper by Maria Miller, the new women's minister, in support of a reduction in the 24-week upper time-limit on social abortions. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "Mrs Miller should instead be pushing for the government to stop its multi-million pound funding arrangements with the abortion industry, and to block broadcast advertising for abortion businesses." [SPUC, 4 October]

On Monday (8 Oct) the SPUC website www.spuc.org.uk will be offline or not visible from 10am until at least 12 noon (UK time) as it moves to a new server. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Information about pro-life issues and SPUC can be found during that period on this blog or at:

Thursday, 4 October 2012

SPUC has responded to comments to The Telegraph newspaper by Maria Miller, the new women's minister, in support of a reduction in the 24-week upper time-limit on social abortions. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, told the media earlier today:

"Every few years the tired, old refrain to reduce the upper time-limit for social abortions is heard. These calls have either gotten nowhere or, as in 1990, been counter-productive. There is no realistic prospect of any such amendments being passed by the current Parliament, any more than in 2008 when Nadine Dorries's amendments were defeated by large margins.

Opening up the Abortion Act on the floor of Parliament will provide an opportunity for the large pro-abortion majority in Parliament to push for radical amendments to make abortion law even worse. The pro-abortion lobby will argue that early abortions are better than late abortions, and therefore that women need easier access to abortion. Such amendments have the support of David Cameron and many other frontbenchers from all the main parties.

We need a fresh perspective on what can be done to save unborn children. Mrs Miller should instead be pushing for the government to stop its multi-million pound funding arrangements with the abortion industry, and to block broadcast advertising for abortion businesses. The government should also stop funding the promotion of abortion in developing countries and promoting access to abortion for children in school."

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

Abortion Rights is the UK pro-abortion group formed by the merger of the National Abortion Campaign (NAC) and the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA), and is supported by the trades union movement. Yesterday Abortion Rights tweeted:

"There are 600-800 illegal abortions every day in Morocco. Support legalisation here: http://bit.ly/REHm9g"

Abortion Rights: "Don't order me to back it up. If you've got a problem with the figures you're welcome to investigate. Till then, get lost."

Anthony: "In other words: you've lost the argument. No wonder you're reduced to silly stunts with coathangers and weird make-up." (Anthony was referring to a Guardian report last week, pictured).

Abortion Rights: "Ha! I won't take lessons in PR from the group that thinks 'gay marriage will increase abortion rate' is a good campaign idea."

Anthony: "We stand by our campaigns. Do you stand by the figures you tweeted for illegal abortions in Morocco?"

No further reply was received from Abortion Rights. Shortly afterwards they (we assume the tweeter was Darinka Aleksic, Abortion Rights' campaigns coordinator, pictured centre) told another pro-lifer on Twitter:

"[I]t was SPUC telling me to 'back it up', that got to me! Wouldn't normally be so irritated."

Well done Anthony for exposing the latest in a long line of cases where the pro-abortion lobby have simply invented illegal abortion figures - see the following blog-posts for more information:

Monday, 1 October 2012

Over-40s denied free IVF can now sue NHS
Women aged over 40 can now sue Britain's National Health Service (NHS) if they are denied IVF treatment, under a new law against age discrimination. Norman Lamb, a newly-appointed health minister, said: "It gives legal force that people have to be treated as individuals, and not written off because of an arbitrary age limit." Mr Lamb also said that such women "would have to show that the upper age limit was not objectively justified" in their case. [Mail, 1 October] Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "It is neither good medicine nor in the best interests of families for natural biological limits to childbearing to be violated by the unnatural process of IVF."

John Smeaton

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 39 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to SPUC's staff, supporters and advisers for their help to me in researching, writing and producing this blog.

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